For Rapid-Response in Iraq, Proven Surgical Tool Gets Makeover

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Since they were introduced in the 1970s, antibiotic beads have been an ER standby. Massive trauma caused by a motorcycle accident, for example, can lodge rocks and dirt in compound fractures, leading to infections. When severely damaged blood vessels around the injury limit the effectiveness of intravenous antibiotics, orthopedic surgeons insert lumps of bone cement -- which is also used to secure bone implants -- coated with antibiotics into the patient's wound.

But because the beads have to be hand-formed by the doctor at the time of surgery, they're of little use in Iraq, where troops hit by improvised explosive devices often need immediate treatment to avoid amputations.

Minnesota-based SurModics is developing preformed plastic beads layered with antibiotics for use in battlefield hospitals. The 7mm beads -- which provide up to 72 hours of antibiotic treatment -- are replaced until the wound is healthy enough to be closed. The small, frontline Forward Medical Teams would be the first to apply the beads before evacuating the patient to a base or hospital, potentially slowing or stopping infections before they lead to amputation. If the Food and Drug Administration fast-tracks approval of the beads, they could reach Iraq by late fall.